Graphical user interface objects ("GUI") are known to include mouse control cursors, touch screens, pull-down menus, tool bars, task bars, short-cut icons, icons, and windows. Each of these on-screen GUIs allow a user to manipulate a computer to achieve a desired result. A desired result may be repositioning of a window, icon, etc., creation of a word processing document, a database document, a graphics document, etc.
As more and more GUIs are created, or used, the effective screen size is reduced to accommodate the GUIs. Of the GUIs displayed, only the ones in the foreground are active (i.e., in focus). In other words, when a user provides a GUI input, it is processed by a GUI that is in focus and addressed in some manner such as point and click.
To increase the effective screen size, but maintain the number of GUIs needed to run a given application, many of the GUIs are visually overlapped. When overlapped, only the GUI in the foreground is in focus. If the user desires to use an overlaid GUI, the user must first select it. Such a selection is interpreted by the operating system of the computer to bring the selected GUI into focus. If the user needs to repeatedly switch between several overlapped GUIs, this can become somewhat frustrating.
A user's frustration level may increase, if he or she is not familiar with the functionality of GUIs and needs to select several of them just to find the desired function he or she wants executed. In such a GUI-driven environment, the user either has to reduce the effective screen size, such that all needed GUIs don't overlap and are directly accessible, or maintain the effective screen size but overlap the GUIs.
For television and video games, additional information may be presented by overlapping the primary subject matter of the television display or video game with a translucent icon. The translucent icon for television is used as a channel identifier and/or copyright notice. The translucent icon for video games may provide game progress information, game instructions, or other such information. In either application, the translucent icon presents information and is not an interactive icon that would allow a user to evoke a specific function.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus for providing multi-state windows that allows for the effective screen size to be maximized and allows windows (i.e., GUIs), to be directly accessible.